Official Count

The official count of votes in the 132nd State Legislative District yesterday showed Democratic candidate John Pressmann winning by 127 votes. Fay Ginther, chief clerk of the Lehigh County Elections Board, said her office considers Pressman to be the winner of the seat being vacated by Rep. Kurt Zwickl. Republican candidate Helen Nicholas and party leaders had anxiously awaited the recount after Pressmann unofficially beat Nicholas by 117 votes the night of the election. The election board today will begin the official recount of votes for all elective offices from the president on down, Gunther said.

Carbon County officials don't want to buy a railroad spur in downtown Jim Thorpe that is used when tourists board passenger cars, but they hope the company that manages the railroad line will. County Commissioner William O'Gurek said Thursday that he met this week with representatives of C&S Railroad and the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society's Lackawanna Chapter. The historical group owns the three-quarter-mile spur behind the train station in downtown Jim Thorpe, but the county owns the land under it. The group's lease with the county expired at the start of this month.

The official count of votes cast in the 135th District, completed yesterday by Northampton County voting officials, shows that Democratic incumbent William Rybak is still the winner. According to Chief Registrar Richard O. Benner, Rybak won by a margin of about two percent, garnering 10,287 votes to the 9,858 obtained by his Republican opponent, 22-year-old Joseph Uliana. Rybak representatives were present for the official count. No one from the Uliana camp appeared at the courthouse in Easton, Benner said.

An official count for the Lower Saucon Township Council race showed Democratic incumbent Joseph Colosi losing his seat to political newcomer Sandra Yerger, a Republican, according to Northampton County's chief registrar. Registrar Linda Arcury said poll workers in Lower Saucon's Hellertown district incorrectly posted some votes for both candidates. County poll workers originally had Colosi winning by 21 votes. The Morning Call's unofficial count the night of the election, however, had Yerger winning by 34 votes, which proved to be correct after Monday's official count.

Official count of the votes cast in Tuesday's election in Northampton County will begin Friday in the office of Chief Registrar Richard Benner. Benner said yesterday that the unofficial tabulation showed 56,779 voters - 57 percent of those registered - went to the polls on Tuesday. He earlier had forecast a 65 percent turnout. Confusion arose for some voters when they reported to the wrong polling places. Benner said those registered in the Cherry Hill district of Bushkill Township voted for the first time this year in a school on Bushkill Center Road that serves as the site of a Bushkill-Bushkill Center polling place as well.

An official count for the Lower Saucon Township Council race showed Democratic incumbent Joseph Colosi losing his seat to political newcomer Sandra Yerger, a Republican, according to Northampton County's chief registrar. Registrar Linda Arcury said poll workers in Lower Saucon's Hellertown district incorrectly posted some votes for both candidates. County poll workers originally had Colosi winning by 21 votes. The Morning Call's unofficial count the night of the election, however, had Yerger winning by 34 votes, which proved to be correct after Monday's official count.

Republican District Attorney Mark P. Pazuhanich and Democratic family law attorney Jennifer Ann Wise pulled ahead as the final votes trickled in Tuesday night and appear headed for a contest in November to claim Monroe County's newly created sixth judgeship. Stroudsburg attorney Arthur L. Zulick, who led both parties' primaries for most of the night, finished second on both ballots by margins of less than 120 votes. However, he did receive the highest total number of votes. Judicial candidates cross-file, running on both Democratic and Republican ballots in the primary.

For candidates in three Upper Bucks races, the election didn't end when the results were reported Tuesday night. Because of an abundant number of write-in votes, races for supervisor in Tinicum Township and council in Perkasie are hanging on the outcome of the official count, which will begin today in the Bucks County Board of Elections. Also, in the contest for council in Trumbauersville, a candidate enjoying a one-vote margin will learn whether his lead will hold up. In Tinicum, Republican Joan A. Quinby received 728 votes for supervisor on election night, defeating her husband, John Quinby Jr., a Democrat who garnered 46 votes.

Republican Bruce Wallace remains the winner of Tuesday's election in Tinicum Township, according to the results of the official count released yesterday by the Bucks County Board of Elections. Unofficial results released Tuesday night showed the incumbent as the winner over Democrat Arnold Hobson by a vote of 714 to 712 in a township supervisor's race. The Elections Board routinely conducts the official count on the Friday following the election. Both candidates were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Pipersville lawyer Nathan Criste held on to win the Bucks County Democratic Party's nomination for district attorney, as the official count of votes yesterday indicated he defeated James D. Welsh of Doylestown by 32 ballots. The final count, according to the Bucks County Board of Elections, was Criste, 7,694, and Welsh, 7,662. Criste, 37, will now go on to face Republican Alan M. Rubenstein in the fall election. Rubenstein, of Northampton Township, is first assistant district attorney in Bucks County.

Phil Mitman forged ahead Wednesday as if he will be Easton's next mayor, ignoring the narrow 53-vote victory while meeting with some residents from Butler Street about improving their neighborhood and making phone calls to get a federal assessment of the Police Department started. "There's no sense waiting for anything," Mitman said. "The point is, I'm still the mayor-elect. Those numbers will still have me the mayor-elect. I believe they'll hold enough that I'll be mayor-elect." His Democratic opponent, City Councilman Dan Corpora, will wait until Northampton County's official count is completed before he's satisfied with unofficial results from Tuesday's election that have him losing by 53 votes.

Republican District Attorney Mark P. Pazuhanich and Democratic family law attorney Jennifer Ann Wise pulled ahead as the final votes trickled in Tuesday night and appear headed for a contest in November to claim Monroe County's newly created sixth judgeship. Stroudsburg attorney Arthur L. Zulick, who led both parties' primaries for most of the night, finished second on both ballots by margins of less than 120 votes. However, he did receive the highest total number of votes. Judicial candidates cross-file, running on both Democratic and Republican ballots in the primary.

When the Bucks County Board of Elections begins the official count of votes cast in the primary election today in Doylestown, Betsy Helsel will find herself in a familiar place: the eye of the hurricane. The official count is likely to show that Helsel lost the Republican primary in the 143rd District to state Rep. Charles McIlhinney Jr. by nearly 1,000 votes. But it's also likely to show that the maverick Republican will have received more than 300 write-in votes on the Democratic side, enough to give her that party's nomination and the right to stay in the race through the November election.

After a drought of public transit options for nearly two decades, the next few months and years could bring an outpouring of opportunities for commuters in upper Bucks and northern Montgomery counties. Local and county officials are considering three plans to provide public transit options with the hope of easing traffic congestion on local roads, bringing more employees to area businesses and providing an environmentally responsible way for residents to travel to their jobs outside the region.

Tinicum Township Supervisor Gary Pearson officially won a write-in campaign in his bid for re-election, beating the Republican candidate, Joan Quinby, by 52 votes. The numbers in the Tinicum race were released Friday by the Bucks County Board of Elections following the official count of Tuesday's election. Quinby, who won the GOP nomination in the primary, polled 728 votes in the election. Pearson's votes were not tallied Tuesday night by election officials, but it appeared he received more than 800 write-in ballots.

For candidates in three Upper Bucks races, the election didn't end when the results were reported Tuesday night. Because of an abundant number of write-in votes, races for supervisor in Tinicum Township and council in Perkasie are hanging on the outcome of the official count, which will begin today in the Bucks County Board of Elections. Also, in the contest for council in Trumbauersville, a candidate enjoying a one-vote margin will learn whether his lead will hold up. In Tinicum, Republican Joan A. Quinby received 728 votes for supervisor on election night, defeating her husband, John Quinby Jr., a Democrat who garnered 46 votes.

Democrat Frank Yandrisevits, the unofficial winner of the race for the 138th District State House seat, will be at the Northampton County Courthouse in Easton at 9 a.m. today when the official vote count of Tuesday's election begins. The unofficial tally shows Yandrisevits the winner by 38 votes. The unofficial totals are Yandrisevits, 9,292, and Republican candidate Jim Oakes, 9,254. Oakes said yesterday he was not informed personally or invited to attend the vote count, but will send a representative to Easton.

George Charles Jr. appears to have fought off an attempt by Democratic state Rep. Karen Ritter to keep him off the ballot in November. But both candidates were unsure of the results late last night and said they would wait for the official tally before claiming victory. Unofficial results of the Republican primary last night had Republican Charles with 410 write-in votes to Ritter's 249. Initial reports had Ritter with 441 Republican write-in votes, giving her a chance to win both the Republican and Democratic primaries.

The winner of the Easton city treasurer post will be confirmed at 9 a.m. today when the Northampton County Voter Registration office holds its official count. Although Democrat David Fleck believed he captured the position Tuesday, unofficial totals in the registrar's office Thursday showed incumbent Republican John McGraw as the winner. Unofficial results obtained Tuesday night by The Morning Call had Fleck as the winner by 3 votes. Florence Piatt, city Democratic Committee chairwoman, said her workers had Fleck winning with more than 100 votes.

In last month's primary election, nearly 50,000 people cast ballots in Bucks County. Dozens of candidates were nominated for seats on borough councils and school boards as well as for significant countywide offices. In some municipalities, referenda were decided. But none of it is official yet. The reason? A political leader in New Hope has contested a single absentee ballot that was cast in the borough by somebody he contends lives in a nearby township. And while no race in New Hope or elsewhere in Bucks County would be affected by whether or not that vote counts, the certification of the whole May 18 primary has been stalled until Bucks County Court decides if the vote cast by D. Robert Balderston is proper.